It felt like I didnt have a body anymore. WebDo you know who you are outside of who you have been told you should be? I think that I always want to remember and teach the world that I was born with a heart, two lungs, two eyes, no shame. Like so many, this person mistook their insecurity as my own. Despite constant invalidation, so many transgender people transition because we know there is a quiet and fierce dignity to being able to look at yourself and say "this is who I am.". I used to love dancing, and I think dance was my first language. For many, the path to enlightenment begins by acknowledging suffering but not letting it define who we are. In this episode, we examine our divine nature and consider who we truly can be in the absence of judgment. Valheim Genshin Impact Minecraft Pokimane Halo Infinite Call For their profound work as an artist-advocate, ALOK has been recognized as a national LGBTQ changemaker by NBC, a Trans Writer You Should Know by Vogue, a Doer by Business Insider, and a Culture Shifter by HuffPo. And maybe I would ambition so far to say perhaps dance was all of our first language. Be the first to learn about new releases! Start by following Alok Vaid-Menon. Its not just that you internalize the shame; rather, it becomes you. You no longer need the people at school telling you not to dress like that; you already do it to yourself. I am sorry that the only way we have been taught to heal is to hurt. Before making any health decisions, you should consult with your doctor. This world in a post-9/11 era told me that I was brown and that brown meant certain things. Its irrelevant. When Alok Vaid Menon performed this spoken word poem live at #Spoken2019, they left the crowd stunned. Buddha taught that suffering is part of the human experience, but he also taught that theres a way out. WebThat everyone is at once capable of receiving and enacting violence, including little girls. they tell us that someone jumped in front of the tracksthat he died upon impactso we just sit there in silence as they remove his remains. 2017 also saw ALOK being selected as the youngest recipient of the Live Works Performance Act Award, granted to ten performance artists across the world. Basically, there was a space heater that I didnt turn off, that my mattress got embroiled with. And so you default back into your self-sabotaging coping strategies, and then two months later, something falls apart and youre like, oh, Ive been meaning to address this and I never did. Support Button Poetry: http://bit.ly/buttonpatreonSubscribe to Button! People have been taught to fear the very things that have the potential to set them free. And if youre enjoying this podcast, leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Support Button Poetry: http://bit.ly/buttonpatreonSubscribe to Button! Fill out the booking request form or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Alok Vaid-Menon for your next private or corporate function. The reason you don't fight for me is because you're not fighting for yourself fully. comedian. Theres such a natural template for another way to relate to the earth. All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. And what a delight and what a joy it is to be foolish together. When Alok Vaid Menon performed this spoken word poem live at #Spoken2019, they left the crowd I was working with a powerful transgender advocacy group there called Gender Dynamics. And sometimes you wonder if you caused the fire. Beauty has a way of justifying violation in the name of benevolence. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. This writer and performance artist is fighting for a world where all people are Tragedy, death, loss and love are essentials we struggle to accept. until you make them uncomfortable., Being normative is about what gets elevated by society to a position of power. Theres a conviction in it. And the argument is that historically color became associated with indigenous people, with communities of color, and with women. The live and virtual event speaking fees listed on this website are intended to serve as a guideline only. The same applies to their hair style. They've repressed their own ambivalence. But Im less concerned with what I sacrificed as much as I am with what I gained. "Orange is the New Black" star Cox wrote, "@alokvmenon with the full sermon. And because I was a quote-unquote boy I was not supposed to be that feminine. Criticism of Alok Vaid-Menon's (popular spoken word artist ALOK is a often invited to deliver lectures, keynote speeches and commencement addresses on LGBTQ issues, racial justice, feminism, fashion, art, design, and more. Acclaimed gender non-conforming writer, performer, and speaker, ALOK, shares their story, and the All American Entertainment has successfully secured celebrity talent like Alok Vaid-Menon for clients worldwide for more than 20 years. Take a look at Button's Privacy Policy. Let, This #trans couple will be the first known parents, With anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans legislation on the, Because its the New Year, lets talk about ch, How to set a boundary? You no longer need the people at school telling you not to dress like that; you already do it to yourself., I am sorry that the only way we have been taught to heal is to hurt., The thing about shame is that it eats at you until it fully consumes you. Science Says No. Why wouldnt you live in the pulse of the universe? Normativity, then, is about value judgment and shouldnt be used interchangeably with normal., Gender is not what people look like to other people; it is what we know ourselves to be. In a conversation filled with wisdom, historical insight, and radical mercy, ALOK challenges us to value compassion over comprehension, to try harder for each other in the name of love, and reminds us that learning is a sign of being alive.We want your feedback on season 1. Are you willing to go back to living someone elses lie? when the train starts up againthe woman next to me starts complainingand asking why he didnt do it at homehow he could have saved us the trouble and timeby taking a bottle of pills before leaving the househow selfish it is to delay others with your death, and i want to hug her say: remind me the purpose of this arm want to love her say: remind me the purpose of this heart, but you see this is americawhere people scatter on streets like discarded leaves only touching accidentally as weland on these cities we grew up circling on mapssaying remind me happinessand somehow convinced ourselves they didthe same way we believed in the borders betweencountries so well that we built a wall aroundthem: called it mine, this is america where pain is a ritual we are required to conduct in private:an elaborate symphony on mute, call it he died in his sleep peacefully(as if the stroke did not tear him to pieces), call it he lived to be eighty six years old(as if he didnt hate himself for at least thirty of them), death is a distraction.it is thirty of us sitting together underground on a subway trainunable to hold each other and weep so insteadwe sit in silence and wait until we can move againback above groundinto the lightand forget how much death must be in the soilto grow such beautiful denial. At what point does femininity become synonymous with apology? And you see someone who you never thought dance, could dancean 85-year-old, just with this kind of unbridled sense of possibility in every step and gesture. And that kind of sense of recognition and that sense of self-acceptance and that sense of surrender to the kind of quiet pulse of the earth having a heartbeat is what I would describe why we do this thing. Alok Vaid-Menon and the Art of Standing Out. In her eyes my journey was about hurting her, not about healing myself. This site uses cookies. Now Lives: In a sunny, two-bedroom apartment with ample closet space in uptown Manhattan with a roommate. He asked what he needs to "unlearn" and what he needs to do to help other men unlearn, in order to better support them, referring to trans and nonbinary people like Vaid-Menon. I was raised Hindu, and I associated religion with organized religion, with a set of parameters and protocols and scriptures that had to be followed explicitly. Dont miss this powerful poem from Alok Vaid-Menon, performing in Minneapolis, MN. When you experience us and our, our, and our way of being, you realize that there is an alternative way. Alok Vaid-Menon in Oxfordshire, England, on Nov. 22, 2019. Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images for The Business of Fashion Nonbinary activist Alok Vaid-Menon broke down the history of and problems with the gender binary and how people can fight against it in video that has gone viral on social media. CADEHILDRETH.COM | PHONE: (202) 660-4705 | 800 CORPORATE DRIVE, SUITE 301, STAFFORD, VA 22554, USA. This writer and performance artist is fighting for a world where all people are able to self-determine their gender. A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment. As a visibly gender non-conforming person, I often receive unsolicited advice about my appearance. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. #degenderfashion love & need you contact@alokvmenon.com So its not that were waiting for a better world, but were instantiating that world, with a way that we show up in space. Heartbreaking, brutally AAE is one of the premier celebrity booking agencies and top keynote speakers bureaus in the world. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Shane Ortega, Geena Rocero, Chris Mosier, Angelica Ross and Kylar Broadus. Let me buy you a razor?" In this performance-lecture ALOK presents a 21st century approach to gender rights, calling for an end to the gender binary. On their website, they have almost 200 poems and blog posts with titles ranging from cis feminisms double standards to The Grief of Having No Language to Express Your Grief. Let me share that. Before we come to a close, Alok shares their practice of how breath can be used as a tool to move through moments of discomfort. This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. 0 coins. That while we might mechanically be alive, while we might be speaking, we never really do the due diligence to ask, Are these the words of my own that Im speaking? In the early 20th century, when women were advocating for the right to vote, men created postcards that showed women dressed up as men and men dressed up as women, Vaid-Menon said. In moments like these I think about how dangerous beauty can be. Alok Vaid-Menon will appear at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney on Sunday, September 18. These are the sacrifices a body must make for growing too fast. LAURIE ANDERSON: Welcome to AWAKEN, a podcast presented by the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. It felt like the body was a mere suggestion. When I see things that I love, when I learn new things, when I read new books, when I encounter new ideas, I want to share it with everyone in the world. Alok uses the pronoun they and has received international attention for Vaid-Menon asked the cisgender hosts, including Justin Baldoni and Jamey Heath, to consider if they were ready to heal. Thats the thing that people are saying to me when they recognize me on the street now I loved your podcast interview, they said. I sacrificed so much. Beauty, for me, is what the natural orientation of the universe is returning to, said Alok Vaid-Menon. Transgender Model & Advocate; Founder of Gender Proud. and some part of usis happy because this, this is the first time we havefelt like part of something greater than ourselves in a whilein this city where sometimes it takesan accident to remember what the purpose of abody is to begin with. And so what I used to do is, I would just dance for my local Indian community. Beauty is about looking like yourself, even in the face of social and cultural repression. Copyright 2023 All American Speakers Bureau. but instead i will sit here and wait until the train starts up again.i will exit the car without saying goodbye to her.i will walk up the stairs to the boy outside with the smile that makes me feel less lonely. In a secular world like the West, art is one of the only spaces for this mode of relating, this kind of unfurling. Like I was interconnected with everything: the air, the people around me, the music. And so much of the formalization and consolidation of European-Western modernity was also a project of aesthetics and color. And then you acting like a fool, that gives me permission to be a fool. Theres this term thats circulating called chromophobia, fear of color. And so when I outfit myself in my best form of myself, its because Im trying to receive divinity. Music for Awaken was created by Blue Dot Sessions, Podington Bear, Tendinite and Siddhartha Corthus. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Did anyone teach you about the question words? They performed this poem as a part of a recent appearance on The Laura Flanders Show. The Museum is closed on Christmas,Thanksgiving, and New Year's Day. In some cases, the actual quote may be above or below the stated range. Why would you do this, if you lost access to power, legitimacy, intelligibility? We prove that we are real by telling them that they are not. Its the inability to see that vibrancy, diversity, instability, collapse, rupture, serendipity are the natural orientations of being alive. Diversity and inclusivity are not just industry buzzwords. The way hair grows back, scabs heal, lips kiss. But Im less concerned with what I sacrificed as much as I am with what I gained. An insistence on radiant beauty, despite all of the vapidity and the vehement violence. Then you cannot tell the difference between their shame and your own between a body and an apology., Some gender non-conforming people are nonbinary, and some are men and women. ALOK (they/them) is an internationally acclaimed writer, performer, and public speaker. The fluid artist moves seamlessly among poetry, comedy, fashion and writing. I now know that there are as many ways to be beautiful as there are people. To use his own words, he once declared, I am not a man. ", They said though trans and nonbinary people face violence and death for challenging traditional gender norms, they don't want people to fight for their rights "because you want to protect me or you want to help me.". Vaid-Menon is self-publishing a poetry book called Your Wound/My Garden. At the beginning of my career I was really concerned with detailing the nature of the wound that I had in the world, Mx. That we all give and receive violence to varying degrees, but that this is not a fairy tale. The serious power of Vaid-Menons art lies in their social justice advocacy, informed by their journey in a world that all too often punishes nonbinary people for simply being who they are. P.S. Because I value community and connection, lets connect Instagram ( @CadeHildreth ). We have deep ancestral roots and evidence of thousands of years of people, not just existing, but thriving and being celebrated outside of the Western division of populations into man/woman, male/female. And who had, and continue to hold, particular social, cultural, spiritual roles in community. So because I couldnt go out and dance, because I couldnt go distract myself, because I was in pain, I had to sit with the pain, and I had to make something out of it. Well hear from authors, artists, wisdom bearers, and Buddhist teachers, people who have experienced a shift in their perspectives on life throughout their personal journey. That idea of the only witness necessary being the earth I think is really powerful to me, because I think that so much of what the dilemma of humanity is that were constantly trying to prove what already is. ALOK VAID-MENON (they/them/theirs) is an internationally acclaimed writer, performer, and public speaker. Alok Vaid-Menon - Funeral 21,371 views Mar 10, 2019 1.3K Dislike Share Save Button Poetry 1.37M subscribers Join Subscribe Support Button Poetry: IE 11 is not supported. As a mixed-media artist ALOK uses poetry, comedy, lecture, performance, fashion design, and visual art to explore themes of gender, race, trauma, belonging, and the human condition. Do you know who you are outside of who you have been told you should be? They are the author of "Femme in Public" (2017) and "Beyond the Gender Binary" (2020). 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